1. Field
The present invention relates to the early detection of craniosynostosis in neonates and infants, utilizing a simple, noninvasive and very rapid diagnostic method without the use of x-ray technology, and even before any skull deformity is noticeable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For a period of time after birth, the sutures between the flat bones of the skull of an infant remain open and unfused to permit brain and skull growth. The flat bones are separated by areas of dense connective tissue which are fibrous and moveable which are needed for the ongoing growth. The areas of connective tissue are eventually ossified into bone. However, while the posterior areas of connective tissue between the bones may close by eight weeks after birth, the anterior rears of connective tissue may remain up to eighteen months after birth before the ossification occurs. Thus, the time periods for such ossification may vary greatly.
Craniosynostosis is a condition in which the sutures between the flat bones of the skull of the infant or young child are closed or close prematurely. The premature closure of the sutures in craniosynostosis may result in increased intracranial pressure and skull deformity, which may have a detrimental effect on the development of an infant's brain as the brain is unnaturally constricted. Only one in a thousand infants will be diagnosed with the defect, so awareness of the condition is not high.
Unfortunately, the craniosynostosis condition is often not detected until after the sutures of the skull bones have fully fused and there is an obvious skull deformity. The remedies for the condition at this point are more complicated. The condition may be detected by a noticeable abnormality in the shape of the infant's head. However, this is not a reliable indicator because even if there is a noticeable change in the shape of the infant's head, the misshapen head may simply be the result of the effects of labor and delivery on the soft unfused skull, or exposure of the unfused skull to long periods of pressure applied to the infant's head while lying in the same position; the so-called plagiocephaly.
Moreover, there are few if any simple and reliable ways of diagnosing the early craniosynostosis condition before significant skull deformity, or discriminating between it and the less serious positional plagiocephaly, particularly in the clinical setting. Methods of detection such as CT scan, x-ray, ultra sound or magnetic resonance imaging procedures may be effective at detecting the condition at an early stage, but are rarely performed as a matter of course in the normal “check-up” examination of the infant unless the condition is severe enough to be noticed. Also, in the early stages in which the suture is partially open or fused at a very small segment, false negatives are high. As the treatment of craniosynostosis involves significant skull reconstruction, it is desirable to have a means of detecting craniosynostosis that is relatively accurate, especially at the early stages of the condition, for better surgical results and to minimize the surgical intervention using a less invasive procedure. Detecting and treating craniosynostosis as soon as possible after the initial onset of cranial bone fusion is also desirable to minimize any negative effects on the normal growth and development of the child's brain.
What is needed therefore is a system for detecting premature fusion of cranial bones as close as possible to the first onset of the premature fusion of the sutures, while being simple and noninvasive so that it may be performed as a part of the normal medical check ups provided to newborn and infant children.